Two chocolate Labradors shake off twice as much water as one!

Barney trying to pinch her ball

There’s a prophet of doom out there making bold statements about our Indian Summer being over ... I’m hoping he’s wrong. The last few weeks have been magnificent and I don’t want them to come to an end. When the skies are this blue and the sun’s shining down on me I can handle anything life throws at me .... even the shower of water droplets on my bare legs when the hound shakes ... but not when the skies are ominously cloudy and there’s no warmth to be felt in the air.

The hound sees no problem with shaking the excess water off over everybody .... she doesn’t notice the goosebumps on my legs or irritation in my voice ... or anyone else’s voice who happens to be within target range.


Julia got the brunt of it yesterday when we sat on the beach to drink our coffee .... it might have had something to do with Julia holding

the stick for the Zinger .... the hound LOVES the Zinger and Julia had bought the replacement one to the beach after I sank the last one in the dog pond at Waiatarua. Poor Julia ... she buys all these delightful toys for Indy and he can’t be bothered with them ... he’d much rather hoover the beach.

Sitting on the beach yesterday was therapeutic ... the last few days have been busy and emotional what with Shimmer’s accident, and then the Crafternoon Tea Market on Saturday. No matter how well prepared I think I am, there is always something that eludes me or that I forget. Add in to all that an early morning wake-up on Sunday to support my weary and woeful Sharks and you can understand why my time-out on the beach was necessary.

We see some of the strangest sights on our rambles. Yesterday it was a young paddle boarder ... female ... heading towards Rangitoto .... texting on her phone as she went! She must be a pretty confident paddle boarder to firstly, have her phone with her .... and secondly, be texting as she moved through the water!! Such skill ... paddle boarding requires good balance ... she had oodles to spare!!

This morning’s ramble felt rather odd after saying goodbye to Julia and Indy ... it’s the first weekday ramble in a while that the ‘Chocolat Express’ hasn’t collected Carol to take her down to the beach. It’s become a habit now and I must admit, I missed her this morning.

We weren’t alone on the beach though .... as Gareth and I kicked the ball and fed the gulls ... Gareth kicking the ball, me feeding the gulls ... a rather rotund rocket of chocolate Labrador raced down the beach towards us. It was Bella, and boy, can she move! She was SCARY ... I stepped backwards because I was convinced she’d barrel into me, but she didn’t! She came to an abrupt halt at my feet, absolutely delighted to see us.

 Bella loves the water as much as my hound so, as Gareth ambled off home, Suzanne and I continued our walk along the beach throwing stick after ball after stick for the hounds. Any effort at staying dry was long gone ... two chocolate Labradors shake off twice as much water as one .... wet legs are inevitable.

I think she's tired of having her photo taken.